Daisy Fleabane

 Erigeron annuus 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 1:30 p.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: meadow restoration area
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 

When we realized that the baby was getting too tired to manage, I spotted this flower.  Tons of thin white rays and a big yellow center... not quite an inch in diameter.  Full circle!  I found Fleabane again--the plant that had started my wildflower identification adventure!  I decided to take a quick picture to wrap things up nicely (isn't it fun when life 'works out' in this way?).  This is when I saw the leave pattern and thought I should do an actual identification.

 

 

Once again, an alternative leaf pattern.  The leaves were toothed in a very specific way.  They had a small but pronounced tooth just above the widest part of the leaf.  The stems were hairy, just like my Philadelphia Fleabane identification.  These leaves, though, were not clasping.  This allowed me to identify my first flower's close relative--Daisy Fleabane.

(Newcomb, 2011, p. 382)

Oxeye Daisy

 Chrysanthemum leucanthemum 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 1:00 p.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: meadow restoration area
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 

When I spotted this single flower amidst the green herbaceous layer of the meadow, I assumed it was chamomile again.  But there was only one.  The flower had about 15 petals and a large rounded yellow center.  The flower was over one food tall.  I couldn't see any leaves at all because the foliage was so dense in this area.

Upon digging a bit, I saw a very clear alternate leaf arrangement.  The leaves had a deep toothed pattern and an interesting few tiny leaflets where the larger ones touch the stem.   

 (Newcomb, 2011, p. 380)

Crown Vetch

 Coronilla varia 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 12:50 p.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: meadow restoration area
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 

The flower of the Crown Vetch is irregular, reminiscent of a common clover flower.  In fact, I always thought it was just big clover.  The flowers are pink and white, growing in an umbel cluster.

The leaves grow in an alternate arrangement along the main stem.  Upon branching out, they are divided into many opposite leaflets.  Tons of this plant were mixed into the restoration meadow we were walking through at this point of our trip.  This area was in full sun and would be all day long.

(Newcomb, 2011, p. 66)

Shining Bedstraw

 Galium concinnum 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 12:30 p.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: meadow restoration area
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 

The flowers of the Shining Bedstraw have four tiny petals.  They grow in clusters that branch out from the main stem.  This image also shows the whorled arrangement of the entire-patterned leaves.  The leaves are tiny--half an inch at most.

 I am not sure how tall the plant was, as I can only describe it as sprawling amongst other herbaceous plants on the side of a grassy trail.  A difficulty in identifying this plant lay in the fact that Shining Bedstraw and Marsh Bedstraw are very similar to each other.  Marsh Bedstraw grows in the area, but the habitat was not wet enough to give this classification.  Shining bedstraw is not found in this area as often, but the average moisture levels of the soil led me to this species identification.

(Newcomb, 2011, p. 152)

Yarrow

 Achillea millefolium 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 12:15 p.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: field restoration area north of the visitor center
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 Each individual flower of Yarrow has about five petals with a yellow center.  Those tiny petals are 3-toothed at the edge.  The flowers grow in fairly flat cluster on long stems.  The Yarrow plant I identified here was about three feet tall.

The leaves of Yarrow grow in an alternative pattern and are finely divided.  Each leaf is lance-shaped then divided into tiny lance-shaped leaflets which are deeply lobed. 

 (Newcomb, 2011, p. 220)

True Forget-me-not

 Myosotis scorpioides 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 12:00 p.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: hummingbird garden area in front of visitor's center
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 

This specimen was just over one foot tall.  The very slightly hairy stems of flowers were interesting to me because they sprawled all over the plant.  The leaves of forget-me-nots are arranged alternately.  Each leaf is entire.    

The five-petaled flowers are a tell-tale blue with a yellow center.  The size of the flowers help to determine whether the plant is a true forget-me-not or a smaller forget-me-not.  The size of these flowers seemed to indicate True Forget-me-nots, but there is a bit of a crossover in the range of flower widths (at about 1/4").

Final determination of the species lies in the ratio between the length of calyx and the length of the calyx lobes.  True Forget-me-nots have shorter lobes (only a quarter the length of the full calyx). 

 (Newcomb, 2011, p. 194)

Wild Columbine

 Aquilegia canadensis 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 11:50 a.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: hummingbird garden area in front of visitor's center
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 

The leaves of Wild Columbine are alternately arranged and divided into three leaflets, and each one is lobed.  This area of Middle Creek was exposed to the sun for about half of the day.

What a unique flower to be a Pennsylvania native!  The flowers of wild columbine are a deep red with a long spur on the back of each petal.  These are nodding flowers--which, to my unexposed sensibilities, seems so exotic. 

 (Newcomb, 2011, p. 228)

Wild Bleeding Heart

 Dicentra eximia 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 11:45 a.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: wildflower garden area along the southern side of the visitor's center
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 

I knew I had seen this plant before.  The leaves, especially, looked so familiar.  When I saw the flower, I remembered Dutchman's Breeches from the practice wildflower presentation.  Lo and behold, they were on the same page of the guide!  The leaves grow in a basal arrangement and are divided into fairly narrow segments.  

Even the unique shape of the flower reminded me of Dutchman's Breeches!  Of course, my daughter walked around the tree that provides some shade to the plant and rained all over my parade with a passing glance and a quick "that looks like a bleeding heart."  When did she become the expert?  This irregular flower is recognizable because of its rounded spurs and bright pink color, growing in a raceme. 

 (Newcomb, 2011, p. 34)

Foamflower

 Tiarella cordifolia 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 11:38 a.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: wildflower garden area in front of visitor's center
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 

The flowers on a foamflower plant are on a raceme and have stamens that pass beyond the petals.  This resulted in needing to examine the flowers much more closely to see that they had five petals.  I am honestly not 100% convinced that this is foamflower because they are typically white.  The amount of pink on the flower before blossoming could be an abnormality of this particular plant.  Everything else pointed to foamflower.

The plant itself might have been eight inches tall.  The basal leaves were heart-shaped with five lobes as described in Newcomb's guide, but the lobes of this plant seem to be deeper than the drawing provided in the guide.  Again, I am questioning my identification, but I cannot find anything else in the guide or even through phone identification apps that fits better.  This plant was found in an area that received tons of shade and had many wildflower species surrounding it. 

 (Newcomb, 2011, p. 178)

Celandine Poppy

 Stylophorum diphyllum 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 11:30 a.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: wildflower garden area in front of visitor's center
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

I had to do research to clarify my identification of this flower because the Celandine looks so much like the Celandine Poppy.  The Celandine Poppy has a slightly larger flower (this one was about 1 1/2 inches wide) with wider petals that often occurs singularly.  The seed pods are unique--bristled, rounded, and dangling.

Greater calendine vs. calendine poppy. (n.d.). BP Plant.              Retrieved June 10, 2021, from                                           https://bplant.org/compare/586-8527

 The oppositely arranged leaves are divided with deep lobes.  The entire plant was only about one foot off the ground. 

 (Newcomb, 2011, p. 162)

Foxglove Beardtongue

Penstemon digitalis 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 11:10 a.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: wildflower garden area in front of visitor's center
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 

This foxglove beardtongue cluster was about three feet high.  The leaves were easy to categorize: opposite, growing in pairs, toothed.  The plant was in the sun for most of the day.

I had a difficult time with flower identification.  While I looked at them and saw 5 petals, they are actually classified as irregular.  The flowers are each close to one inch long.  They are pink/purple and tubular at the base.  Then they swell in the middle and are white in color before breaking into 5 'petals.'  The upper two are shorter and curve back more than the lower three. (Newcomb, 2011, p. 102) 

New Jersey Tea Flower

 Ceanothus americanus 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 11:20 a.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: wildflower garden area in front of visitor's center
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 

This entire plant was about 18 inches tall.  I had a difficult time identifying it because I didn't realize it was a type of shrub until I had exhausted every other possibility!  The alternate leaf pattern shown here is much lower than the taller flower stems.  The entire leaves are toothed.

The light pink flowers grow in dense clusters.  This plant was growing in an area that had shade during part of the day.  The flower clusters remind me of fireworks. (Newcomb, 2011, p. 310)

Queen of the Prairie

 Filipendula rubra 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 11:00 a.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: pollinator wildflower garden area in front of visitor's center
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 

This flower was difficult to identify because it hadn't quite bloomed yet.  Some individuals were almost four feet tall!  Other clues that stood out were the clustered flowers, the large and deeply lobed toothed leaves, and the heart-shaped clasping leaves lower down on the plant.  I was able to ask a woman maintaining the garden what the flowers looked like when they bloomed but told her that I didn't want to know the name of the plant because I was working on identification.  She described it enough that while I had to flip through a good portion of the book, I could exclude choices easily to determine this plant's species.

(Newcomb, 2011, p. 234)

Field Chamomile

 Anthemis arvensis 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 10:52 a.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: wildflower garden area in front of visitor's center
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 This chamomile plant was in pretty full sun next to a few other pollinator species.  The flowers had anywhere between 10 and 15 white petals and were about an inch wide.  The plant was odorless, which distinguished it from other chamomile varieties.

The entire plant was about a foot tall, but it was difficult to tell because the stems were numerous and wild!  While the leaves were arranged in an alternate pattern, each leaf was deeply lobed and looked almost pinnate.  This also distinguished it as field chamomile.  (Newcomb, 2011, p. 380)

Bonus granddaughter picture in front of the chamomile on our flower-hunting trip!

Whorled Coreopsis

 Coreopsis vericillata 

Siting Information

• Date: June 10, 2021
• Time: 10:38 a.m.
• Location: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area (100 Museum Road, Stevens, PA 17578)
• Habitat: wildflower garden area in front of visitor's center
• Weather: approximately 75 degrees Fahrenheit, some clouds, humid

 

Coreopsis flowers are about two inches in diameter when fully bloomed with 8 yellow petals.  The plant saw only bits of shade throughout each day because there were a few trees nearby casting shadows.

The entire plant was about a foot tall.  The leaves were arranged in a whorled pattern.  It was a bit difficult to tell that the leaves were divided into narrow segments because of how narrow they were--they each looked like their own leaf.  This was the key identifier to this particular species.   (Newcomb, 2011, p. 394)

Common or Philadelphia Fleabane

Erigeron philadelphicus 

Siting Information

• Date: June 3, 2021
• Time: 4:00 p.m.
• Location: Oley Valley Youth League, Inc. (446 Bertolet Mill Road, Oley, PA 19547)
• Habitat: next to a parking lot at the edge of a large grass field with sporadic deciduous trees; the flower location has times of shade and times of sun
• Weather: approximately 80 degrees Fahrenheit, immediately after a torrential but quick rainfall

 

  The plant was at least two feet tall, one of the identifying characteristics that this was the common variety.  Several individuals were growing densely packed at the edge of the field.  Fleabane leaves are arranged alternating up the stem.  

Common Fleabane flowers have many narrow white petals and a flat, yellow center.  Hair along the stem was soft.  The fact that their toothed leaves also clasp the stem at their base is another species identifier.  (Newcomb, 2011, p. 382)